The Human Side of Schools
So much of the talk of
education these days, that I hear anyway, is centered on results, results,
results. As the higher-ups continue to focus on competition with other
countries and test scores, let us down here dealing with the common folk not forget
what education is all about: the students and their well-being/learning.
The school organization is (well, at least should be) centered on the
individual. As this chapter focused on the development of thought, I
resonated better with everything that was related to the person more than the
business.
I also loved the culture
building portion of this chapter, especially where it focused on communities.
On page 127, Sergiovanni (1994) said, "Communities are collections
of people who are connected together because they share common commitments,
ideas, and values." He then went on regarding what schools should be
understood as: Learning, collegial, caring, inclusive, and inquiring
communities. What struck me was the line under learning communities,
"Learning is an attitude as well as an activity, a way of life as well as
a process." Reflecting on that, I totally agree. I teach that
"Attitude and Effort are everything", and I see that those who foster
an attitude of learning truly let it become a way of life. Some of my
kids just get it, and it's wonderful to see, while for others, learning is
stuck as being a process and an activity they have to do at school.
As a future administrator,
I want my school staff to be a tight-knit community, where we can learn with,
connect to, care for, and include each other as we progress towards our goals.
I'd like for each of my teachers to reflect on why they began teaching
and try to remember what it was like when more of the focus was on the kids,
and then to work towards doing what's best for the kids again. The human
organizations of education stand unique, as well as critically important
(Broudy, page 130), for to us is entrusted the "precarious hold of
humanity itself."
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